Recovery of vehicle exhaust heat otherwise expelled from a vehicle can improve the efficiency of various vehicle systems and improve fuel economy. For example, vehicle exhaust heat has been used to warm engine coolant, especially after a cold start of the engine. Furthermore, a thermoelectric generator (TEG) can be integrated into a vehicle exhaust system to produce electrical energy from a temperature differential created by the exhaust heat and coolant. Cooling of the TEG is sometimes accomplished by directing coolant from the TEG through the engine and engine radiator. While this minimizes the number of components required in the cooling circuit, the engine heat added to the coolant reduces the temperature differential in the TEG, thus reducing the electric output of the TEG. Other known designs utilize a separate radiator, coolant pump and coolant lines for the TEG. Besides the added cost of these additional components, the heat from the TEG added to the coolant is not utilized for improving engine warm-up in such an arrangement, and system maintenance is more complex, as each of the two separate cooling circuits must be filled with coolant separately.